Kudos to Debby Boltman

Debby Boltman of Bothell, WA (debbysstuff.blogspot.com) was the designer of this next Bella-tastic card. She participated in my "Naked"/Color Your Own Bella swap i did a couple of months back. The card was completely assembled and the bella was left unattached (but included) just waiting for me to color her in!

I adored this swap and have used quite a bit of my cards. I'll be hosting this swap again soon for my bella ladies!

Ok, back to the card...

To color Rockabella (www.stampingbella.com) i used Copic Markers, stardust gel pens and my new clear copic spica pen. The picture doesnt do the glittery sparkles justice! She is super jazzed up and it makes me happy. You just cant see that in the photo. I'm using the card to send to my good friend, Ashleigh who has been working very hard on her weight loss challenge. I'm very proud of her, and i thought this was a great way to show it! :)

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Use It Up Challenge

It may be part of my nesting phase - but i'm starting to notice the accumulating... or rather largely accumulated amounts of craft supplies and beauty supplies sitting all over my house. SO - i'm instituting a USE IT UP CHALLENGE! I'm very excited about this challenge o' mine. I'm vowing to not buy another beauty supply (whether it's makeup or body) unless i'm simply out of the product i need. So i'll be using the silly shamoo samples i get from hotels (i only keep them when they are a good brand), and all of the plethera of lotions etc. I know i have enough makeup to last me for decades. I can by makeup if it's something i need for a job, thats my stipulation there. But then i got to thinking... why not move this to other areas of my life, like crafting!
My crafting use it up challenge means i cant buy anything new (unless i sell something i already have). So watch out ebay because there are some new stamps i've been dying to get! This also means the items i'm buying will be more valuable to me. I WILL use some some of the mounds of paper i have sitting around. I wont buy a single other brad or eyelet. Only exceptions are when i need something very specific for a swap.

SO - are you in on the challenge with me? We can do it! Really we can!!!! For each project you complete with ALL supplies from your stash only... let me know and you will have another entry in my Use It Up Blog Candy!

I'll do an update of this every week for a month and then i'll give away the first round of blog candy - and it will be good! (not something from my stash - something that i will buy brand spankin' new!). BUT - i might have little give aways now and then from my stash so keep checking back!

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Our Big Announcement!

Well i know i've announced we'll be having a baby in September but yesterday we had our ultrasound appointment and got to find out what we're having!

I made this little card for our announcement... i'm not very pleased with the picture quality as i cant find my camera and had to borrow my husbands (a better camera than mine, but i dont know it's settings). Still... here's our big announcement...

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A Bella and Bows

First off... i created a new Bella Card! I've been practicing my with copics, and while i'm not perfectly where i want to be just yet, i'm pretty happy with my technique. This card was created using a cardfront given to me by my super sweet Bella Sistah, Kim Stewart. She gave me a whole pack of embossed cardfronts as well as some fun designer prints paper from Stampin Up. The sentiments are part of the Delight in Everything set by Close to My Heart. The punched out flower designs are also from this set. And i used the word window punch from Stampin Up. Bella is the beautiful Gardenbella that i got some stamped images of from a friend.


My other thing i just have to post is i learned how to make hair bows last night. Ok, so i learned to make a couple styles of hair bows last night. There are just so many! My good friend, Sarah, taught me and some other mom friends and we made bows until after midnight! Too much fun! In any case, these are my first attempts at the bows. I'm hoping to learn other styles and branch out and then with any luck, i'll actually have a girl who can wear some! If i dont, watch out friends with little girls - i'll be sending you lots and lots of bows because they are just too fun to make to stop!

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Here is a card i made for a friend of mine in Indiana. I've never sent her one of my handmade cards. I'm hoping she likes it!



I made this card with my new "My Favorite Things" stamp that came in the mail (super duper fast shipping for sure, i ordered and received my stamps within 2 or 3 days! The set is called Boho Blossoms and it has super cute stamps in it. 2 flower designs (which you see on the card) and similiar in fashion, 2 heart designs. Lots of words in the same script as the word friendship and then a few little florishes, small flowers, hearts, etc. It's a super fun set for sure.

I used Purely Pomegranate cardstock and ink with a week with of Regal Rose ink for some of the small flowers. The colored twine i got ages ago and had forgotten about but the color matches the purely pomegranate perfectly! The large flower has been cut up and popped up with a pop dot. Fun trick for cut out flowers, if you run the petals between your finger you can "soften" them and make them curl up (or back, whichever effect you are wanting. It helps to make the cut out design really stand out!

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These are the cards i created for a basket auction being held at my church. All the proceeds go to help out the youth group with their mission trip. I was pleased with how they came out. I kept them relatively simple without too many layers, but sometimes i really like the simple look.



The first one was made as a birth announcement. There are 8 of them in the basket with 10 matching envelopes. The paper is Candlelight Bazzill for the main card and Brown Bazzill behind the image. The stamps are from Stampin Up's Bundle of Joy set. I just ADORE this set! I used misc embellishments like velvet ribbon, buttons and a paperclip to finish the card off. The bear was colored with Copic markers.

The 2nd card was made to be a baby announcement. The giraffe is also from Stampin Up's Bundle of Joy set. The sentiment is from Stampin Up's Much Appreciated set. The card base is made using Close to My Heart's Sweet Leaf cardstock with Candlelight Bazzill. The giraffe is color with Copic markers as well.

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Ok, so i'm admittedly not the brightest crayon in the box... but today i took myself to a new level. For weeks i've been so irritated with photobuck and my computer which are not getting along and then not being able to post to my blog. I've even downloaded new things to my computer to try to fix the problem which seemed to work but then it was only temporary (probably because my DH decided to "clean" my computer again). So i was back to the drawing board. I so badly want to have one of those blogs that are worth peeking into now and then, but i've just been coming up short.

Then today in desparation i ask a group i'm in for help. My first response i get was that blogspot will let you upload directly to the post. Um.... yeah.... i use blogspot. How did i miss that little picture emblem up there? Why was i always going thru the trouble of uploading to photobucket first. *sigh*

So now my only downfall will be uploading photos to my computer which i am notoriously lazy for. :) But i hope to be better about that too.

Still on my camera are the photos of cards i've been working on this week for an auction at my church, but i did only take them this morning. So for now i'm going to post a card i made recently using, of course, i bella since i am so obsessed with them. I added a bunch of new ones to my collection so watch out... there will be more!

For now here's another cosmobella - i just cant get away from her! The background was made super duper simply by using the cuddlebug embossing folder. I just used it in my sizzix since i'd rather spend the extra $$ on more copics than yet another diecutting machine. After i embossing the cardfront, i sprayed "Make it Pearl" by krylon over the front. I punched a tab using the tab punch by Stampin Up and stamped the sentiment "cheers!" by stamping bella inside. That was hooked on to some misc ribbon i had lying around and then i adhered my bella on top. And viola! Super easy bella card! :)

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Goodie! I'm not able to to post images a little bit larger so you can actually see some detail!

The previous bella i used is my entry for the Bella Babe Challenge. The challenge was to use Yellow, Pink and Orange on a card. I was pleased with the outcome. I used Splitcoast Sketch Challenge 15 for the layout.

My card base is Stampin Up (i believe Banana yellow). I stamped some little flowers from SU's Simple Delights in So Saffron ink by SU.

The pattered paper is from the glitter collection by Die Cuts With a View.

Miss OhSoPrettyBella is colored with Copics.

Misc other embellishments are some scrap ribbon and 2 little rhinestone flowers that were sent to me as a RAK.

Thanks for looking!

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i'm currently trying to work out some technical stuff. Nothing major.... just trying to figure out how i can change the layout of my blog to allow the pictures to be just a smidgen larger... so this post may be a little random... i'll delete it later with my updated post for the day, but if you read this and dont get it... just wanted to explain


bella at message board size...



bella at email size

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I'm back!

I'm back! Yippeee! I've missed you guys! Sorry for the absence in the blogging world. I use (and love... normally) the photobucket website. But lately it's given me nothing but grief. I was unable to resize picture and it just threw my blog all out of wack! I got so frustrated with it, i just didnt blog for a bit. so sad. But it seems to be back in working order! Not sure if it was on my end or photobuckets end, but we're no longer enemies and have become friends again! *sigh with happiness*

I'm going to celebrate my resurgance in the blog world by offering up a little BLOG CANDY! Yippeeeeeee! But i'm not posting it just yet because i dont know what i'm giving away yet! Stay tuned!

Until then, i'm going to post a super easy cd holder i made for my Bella Sistah!

The front cover uses Ipodabella (perfect for a cd holder, no??)

and then the inside is super simple (but you could glitz it up)



First i took a sturdy piece of 6x12 cardstock. Score lines at 3 and 9 inches. This will make a gate card. (you could save yourself some trouble and purchase a gate card at a craft store if you'd like). To finish my "gate" i punched 2 small circles from a cardstock scrap. Using eyelets as anchors (though brads would work too) i attached the circles half way up my gate edges. Then you can simple figure-8 some fiber between the 2 to close your gate. Decorate the front of your card as you wish. The "imagination at work" sentiment is by Autumn Leaves and i applied Liquid Glass by Close to My Heart on top to make it stand out. The letter k is just a spare piece of alpha chipboard i had lying around. I embossed a piece of red cardstock with my new cuddlebig folder and highlighted areas with a stardust gelly roll pen. Super easy, super fun! Just remember to trim your bottom cardstock piece so your gate will open!
Inside i just set an eyelet int he dead center. This was so i could thread a piece of pretty ribbon thru and tie my cd into place!

Now you try it!

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